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Family of four arrested in 2016 Rhoden family slaying in Ohio

By Daniel Uria
Four family members were arrested Tuesday in the 2016 slaying of seven members of the Rhoden family and the fiancée of one of the victims, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. Photo courtesy Mike DeWine/Twitter
Four family members were arrested Tuesday in the 2016 slaying of seven members of the Rhoden family and the fiancée of one of the victims, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. Photo courtesy Mike DeWine/Twitter

Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Four people were arrested in connection with the 2016 killing of an Ohio family of eight, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said Tuesday.

DeWine announced the suspects George "Billy" Wagner III, 47; Angela Wagner, 48; George Wagner IV, 27; and Edward "Jake" Wagner, 26 -- a husband, wife and their two adult sons -- were charged with killing seven members of the Rhoden family and the fiancée of one of the victims.

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The Wagner family was charged with planning and carrying out the killings after federal investigators had been observing them since the summer of 2017, Ohio's WLWT reported.

The families had been longtime friends. Edward "Jake" Wagner was the ex-boyfriend of Hannah Rhoden -- one of the eight dead -- and they were in a custody dispute over one of her 2-year-old children.

George "Billy" Wagner was arrested in Lexington, Ky., Tuesday afternoon, it was unclear where the other three were captured.

Christopher Rhoden Sr., 40; Clarence "Frankie" Rhoden, 20; Dana Lynn Rhoden, 37; Gary Rhoden, 38; Hanna May Rhoden, 19; Hannah Gilley, 20; Kenneth Rhoden, 44; and Christopher Rhoden Jr., 16, were shot and killed across four locations in a rural area about 90 miles east of Cincinnati in 2016.

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A motive for the slayings remains unknown, but authorities said the scenes had evidence of marijuana grow operations and cockfighting roosters.

Investigators have conducted over 130 interviews and processed over 100 pieces of evidence and 550 tips with assistance from more than 20 law enforcement agencies in the two years since the killings.

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